Health Promoting Schools Initiative

Sarah Johnson
April 9, 2014

Health Promoting Schools Initiative

Sarah Johnson
Introduction
There has been an abundance of research highlighting the
benefits of physical activity, yet many Canadian students are still not
getting the recommended daily amount (Barrett, 2014). The
recommended amount for children and youth ages 5-17 outlined by
The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines is 60 minutes of moderate to
vigorous physical activity per day (Canadian Society for Exercise
Physiology, 2011). There are multiple factors contributing to why so
many students do not engage in the sufficient amount of physical
activity including community barriers, school environment, family, and
access to equipment. However, I believe that one of the most
important determinants of if a student engages in sufficient physical
activity is motivation. The student must want to apply themselves and
improve their own personal fitness if they are to be physically active on
a regular basis, and continue to be active in adult hood. Extrinsic
motivation involves the desire to achieve a goal due to external forces,
such as a reward. Intrinsic motivation involves wanting to achieve a
goal because of personal reasons such as enjoyment or interest (Ryan
& Deci, 2000). Beginning with extrinsic motivation to get students
active is a good start, but I believe the ultimate objective should be to
foster intrinsic motivation to be physically active and healthy. This
motivation to be physically active needs to come from more than just
the students themselves, it needs to be present in their teachers, their
peers, and the entire school community.
Several schools offer intermural teams and physical activity
programs for students to become involved in, yet only approximately
52% of Canadian students participate in these programs (Canadian
Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 2010). There are many
possibilities for the lack of participation in the physical activity options
provided for these students. Some of these reasons may include that
their peers are not participating in the activity, they do not like the
sport or activity being provided, or that they see benefit to being
physically active. My program aims to attack these deterrents of
motivation by encouraging a community where peers are actively
engaged in activity, a wide variety of activities are celebrated, and
students are intrinsically motivated to be physically active for their
own personal benefit.
It was mandated in Ontario that students must participate in 20
minutes of physical activity per day during instructional time in school
(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005). In my experience at two
elementary schools in the Toronto District School Board, this Daily
Physical Activity (DPA) is often neglected. There has been no scheduled
time allotted, and no way to record its completion. In the older grades,
specifically grades 7 and 8, I noticed that both teachers and students
often treated DPA as a chore. In the younger grades, specifically 2-6, it
was treated as free time and resulted in many students sitting or

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Sarah Johnson
standing around. These results are not the fault of the teachers; they
are the fault of the way the school views physical activity in the priority
sequence of academics and the lack of motivation in the community.
My program aims to connect teachers to each other to share resources
and ideas, to encourage them to want to do DPA, and to modify the
entire school community to one that values physical fitness.
According to the Self Determination Theory, there are certain
factors that promote intrinsic motivation, and certain factors that
inhibit it (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The factors that encourage intrinsic
motivation include autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Deci &
Ryan, 2000). In the initiative I have created, I will ensure that these
factors are present to foster intrinsic motivation in students and staff.
Students will have autonomy as they may choose when, how much,
and what type of physical activity they would like to engage in.
Competence will be instilled in students by providing feedback on a
regular basis by their advisor and their peers. Relatedness refers to a
sense of belonging and acceptance to a group, which will be provided
in advisee groups dedicated to supporting each others physical
activity. With these factors present in the initiative, it is likely that
students will begin to develop intrinsic motivation to become physically
active.
Program Goal
The goal of my program is to get students, teachers, and the
school community intrinsically motivated to improve their personal
fitness level and become healthier citizens. It is my hope that if the
program is successful, students will remain intrinsically motivated to
be active when they graduate and into their adult lives. This program is
designed with Lord Lansdowne School in Toronto in mind, but is easily
adaptable to other schools and situations. Using advisor groups,
journals, and an increased number of physical activity clubs, students
and advisors will set goals and record their physical activity throughout
the school year.
Program Structure
In order to ensure time is taken time out of a busy academic
schedule for physical activity, the initiative will include that 20 minutes
of every day before recess be reserved for Daily Physical Activity
(DPA). This will be written into the schedule and the entire community
will be informed. Every student between grade 1 and grade 8 will be
divided up into small advisor groups consisting of 10-15 students. The
advisor groups will consist of mixed grades, having students from
grades 1-5 grouped together and students from grades 6-8. Any
educational staff member can be an advisor, including administrators
and directors. Students will meet with their advisor for DPA, and it is
the responsibility of the advisor to have a planned activity. On a bi-

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Sarah Johnson
weekly basis during one of the scheduled DPA periods the advisor and
advisees will have a meeting instead of an activity. Although the
students will not get DPA this day, what they learn in the meetings will
benefit the students in the long run.
In the first advisor meeting, students will learn about what
activities are included as physical activity, how much physical activity
is beneficial, and what their personal target heart rate is. They will be
given a Physical Activity Journal (see Appendix 1), and receive
instructions on how to fill it out. The Physical Activity Journal is to be
filled out every day as a way to record the amount of activity
completed in that day. Both students and advisors will fill out the
journal and bring it to meetings. In following advisor meetings the
students will make personal goals, discuss any barriers they are facing
and, support each others progress. The advisor is responsible for
encouraging students to pursue activities they enjoy, such as hiking,
biking, walking, and even taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Every bit of physical activity counts, and if the student does not enjoy
sports they can find other ways to be active. If resources were
abundant, every student would have access to a heart rate monitor
and a pedometer, but this is unlikely to be a reality within the school.
For this reason, the heart rate monitors and pedometers will cycle
around advisor groups throughout the school, so that students have at
least two opportunities during the year to utilize these resources and
track their results.
It is in these advisor groups that students will begin the transition
to an intrinsic motivation to be physically active. They will learn about
the choices they have and the many ways to be physically active,
increasing their autonomy. They will receive support and positive
feedback from advisor group and see their progress in their journals,
increasing their competence. They will establish a sense of being part
of a group in their advisor groups, increasing their relatedness and
sense of companionship. They will set goals and do their best to
achieve these goals with the help of their advisor and the other
members of the group. Parents will also receive updates on their childs
progress in the program through parent teacher interviews.
Quality Program Instruction
A Professional Development day will be dedicated to staff
training on the new program. They will be taught the benefits of
physical activity, how to encourage students to be physically active,
and how to properly fill out the Physical Activity Journal. Teachers will
be given ongoing support throughout the year in monthly professional
learning communities where they can brainstorm and share ideas for
DPA, clubs, and strategies to overcome barriers to physical activity.
DPA will become a time where both advisors and students can add to
their journal and work towards their individual goals. Each staff

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Sarah Johnson
member will be encouraged to organize a club or a team that will allow
students the opportunity to be active. With increased staff involvement
in clubs and teams, there will be more of a variety for the students to
choose from. Parents in the community will also be encouraged to
volunteer time in providing clubs and opportunities for students to be
physically active.
At Lord Lansdowne, a public school in Toronto, the first class of
every month in Phys. Ed is a fitness challenge. Students record their
results on: Running touch laps for three minutes, vertical jump, plank,
pushups, and skipping for two minutes. The students are given the
opportunity to quickly look at their results form other weeks, but many
do not sincerely consider their improvement. If they could write their
results down in their journal (See Appendix 2), they would have it in a
place to refer back to it whenever they would like. In the journal log
there would also be a place for reflection on the fitness challenge,
where students are asked to see if there is any improvement and
consider reasons why or why not by looking at their physical activity
log. In another school, a monthly fitness challenge in Phys. Ed class
would be added as part of the initiative. This would help students see
personal progress throughout the year and increase their motivation to
improve.
Healthy Physical Environment
Having a goal and seeing evidence of progress towards that goal
is essential to motivation. If the advisor and the students are all
recording their activity, they will all be much more excited to
participate in Daily Physical Activities. Advisors should also be more
excited to help run clubs and teams for students to be more physically
active. As part of the intervention, a drop in jogging/walking club is
established to give students, advisors, and parents an opportunity to
get some physical activity. A safe route must be planned out and
posted inside and outside of the school. 30 minutes before and after
school students, teachers and parents can jog or walk the established
route. It will become a school rule that all joggers/walkers must have a
partner with them when using the route. In a more rural school, this
route will be easier to plan. In a school such as Lord Lansdowne,
located downtown Toronto, this route may be more complicated. If it is
not possible to find a safe running route, the gymnasium should be
opened before and after school where students, advisors and parents
have the opportunity to run laps.
To encourage students to get active, the physical education
equipment that the school has can be signed out by students for at
least 30 minutes before school, for 30 minutes after school, at lunch,
and at recess. A staff member must be there to sign out the
equipment, recording the students name and the time, and when the
item is brought back. If possible, additional heart rate monitors and

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Sarah Johnson
pedometers would be available to sign out as well. The school will raise
money to or apply for grants to make the school more physical activity
friendly. The paint lines on basket ball and tennis courts will be redone, as in some schools such as Lord Lansdowne they have nearly
completely worn off. Bike racks will be set up outside of the school to
encourage staff and students to ride their bikes to school instead of
driving or taking public transit. Posters will also be set up around the
school encouraging students to take the stairs and providing helpful
suggestions to fit physical activity into every day life.
Supportive Social Environment
Advisors will all attend a monthly meeting that will function
similarly to a staff meeting. In this meeting, they have the opportunity
to share DPA ideas, plan out new DPA activities and clubs, and discuss
their advisees progress. Advisors will be supported throughout the
program, and this will allow them to support their students. Advisors
are encouraged to make themselves available for their advisees
outside of meetings, incase students have any additional questions or
concerns. The students will be taught to focus on personal
improvement, not performance. They will be made to understand that
their body works differently than other students, but all bodies can be
active and healthy. Parents and Guardians will be informed about the
various clubs and activities taking place at the school, and encouraged
to participate or assist in running them. They will also be encouraged
to check up on the activity log and help students to fill it out. This will
get the whole community involved, and increase the likelihood that the
students will engage in physical activity.
This initiative creates some formal policies in the school outlining
scheduled DPA and advisor meeting times, as well as the organized
jogging/walking club and other intermural teams. The initiative also
sets the foundation for some informal social support, such as the mixed
age advisor groups. Students who are older can organize activities for
the younger students, and become more actively involved in games at
recess. Advisor groups are encouraged to keep each other physically
active.
Community Partnership
It would be every beneficial for the students, advisors, and entire
community to partner with a local university or high school. They could
share facilities such as a fitness room, and increase the quantity of
equipment available to the students. In the case of Lord Lansdowne,
the close proximity to the University of Toronto would make it an
excellent potential partner. If there were a local jogging group in the
community, such as one organized by The Running Room, the advisors
would connect students with this resource. Other options would also be
made available to the students such as Morning Yoga hosted by LuLu

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Sarah Johnson
Lemon. Helping students get connected with their community will also
increase the likelihood that they will continue to use these resources
when they graduate.
A partnership with programs such as Active and Safe Walks to
School can be very beneficial for students as it provides safe routes to
school and services such as the Walking School Bus. Partnering with a
program such as this would make my intervention even more
successful, as students are given more opportunity to be active. Local
sports teams and guest speakers advocating the benefits of physical
activity can also be inspiring to students, parents, and advisors. It is
essential for a school to stay in touch with its community to stay
informed and take advantage of the resources that surround it.
Modifications and Extensions
If the school has more access to technology and a demographic
of students that are likely to have a computer at home, programs such
as The 60 Minute Kids Club Program could be used to track student
activity. For the purposes of this intervention as if it were implemented
at Lord Lansdowne, all students would be divided into advisor groups
including students with special needs. In a school with a higher
population of students with special needs, it may be beneficial to
create a separate smaller advisor groups. In these smaller groups more
time could be spent understanding data, looking at personal
improvement, and discussing any possible modifications. If heart rate
monitors are not in the school budget students may be taught to feel
and count their pulse while watching the second hand on a clock to
determine heart rate. If pedometers are not in the budget they can be
eliminated from the program, but using a map and how many steps
each student takes in a certain amount of meters may be a useful
cross curricular extension for math or geography.
This intervention for Lord Lansdowne was designed with students
from grades 1-8 in mind. The program would require advisors to make
small adaptions for younger students, such as require them to have an
older buddy in grade 7 or 8 when they sign out Phys. Ed equipment.
Having advisor groups that are of mixed grade levels was to encourage
social support and student leadership. Having advisee groups within
the same grade could be used to increase peer motivation and to
create groups that would be near to the same level of physical
development. Groups at Lord Lansdowne would be Co-Ed, but the
groups could also be separated based on gender identity to encourage
students to discuss successes and barriers more openly.

References:

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Sarah Johnson
Barrett, J. (2014). Beyond Physical Education: School Based Physical
Activity
Programming. Teaching Physical Education Today. 274-292.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations:
Classic
definitions and new directions. Contemporary educational
psychology, 25(1),
54-67.
Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute. (2010). The Physical
Activity
Monitor. Ottawa: Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research
Institute.
Canadian Soceity for Exercise Physiology. (2011). Canadian Physical
Activity
Guidelines.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2005). Policy/Program Memorandum No.
138: Daily Physical Activity in School, Grades 1 to 3; Grades 4 to 6,
Grades 7 to 8.

Health Promoting Schools Initiative

Sarah Johnson
Activity
Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

# of Minutes

Heart Rate

Number of
Steps
(Pedometer)

Health Promoting Schools Initiative

Sarah Johnson
Appendix 1:
Physical Activity Journal
Appendix 2:
Touch
Laps
Septemb
er

Vertical

Flexibilit
y

Pushups

Plank

Skipping

October
Novemb
er
Decemb
er
January
February
March
April
May
June

Reflection:
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